Investors were feeling secure enough about cybersecurity company Tenable Holdings(NASDAQ: TENB) to send its share price up by more than 4% on Tuesday. This followed a recommendation upgrade from an analyst at an influential white-shoe investment bank. By contrast, the S&P 500 index fell on the day, slumping to close almost 0.2% lower.
Tenable's recommendation upgraded, and price target raised
The upgrader was Morgan Stanley's Hamza Fodderwala, who now feels Tenable is worthy of a tag of overweight (buy, in other words). Previously, he had characterized it as an equalweight (hold).
Accompanying this change, Fodderwala substantially raised his price target on the stock to $60 per share; previously it was $46. At the current share price, this suggests potential upside of over 31%.
These adjustments were part of a minor repositioning of Morgan Stanley's takes on selected cybersecurity stocks. Other changes were a similar equalweight-to-overweight recommendation upgrade and price target hike for top sector name CrowdStrike Holdings, and a downgrade to equalweight for peer company CyberArk Software.
The company is a leader in this important cybersecurity segment
In a research note detailing his changes, Fodderwala waxed bullish about Tenable being a leader in the vulnerability management segment. He also pointed out that it was gaining market share in the category.
Given that, he feels the stock is attractively priced at its current level. In his words, Tenable is "trading at a material discount to peers and [has] a clear catalyst in margin upside driving the stock higher."
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
